Do you hear the people sing?
Nov. 11th, 2018 03:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spacealien_vampIt has been a pretty full couple of weeks here, starting just before Halloween, when I was scrambling to finish Brooke's costume. I received an email notification on the 30th that Tesla was finally taking orders for the shorter-range battery version of the Model 3, so I was finally able to put together my build and submit it. Since I hadn't expected to be able to get my car until next spring, based on the estimates last time I checked in June, this was an exciting development (and slightly budget-busting).
You see, I had just finished getting most of the windows in my house replaced with more energy efficient ones, anticipating that I would be able to pay off a big chunk of the bill before I would have any car payments kick in. Slight miscalculation there. Fortunately, we have a lot of holiday bonus pay coming up over the next two months. Still, I immediately signed up to work some overtime to make up for some of the expenses, and that added to my full schedule.
The same day I ordered the car, I went shopping for a smart phone. I've been using a basic flip phone since forever (I think I got my current model 9 years ago, shortly after I moved to California). The Tesla will have a lot of features that rely on using a smart phone app, so if I want to get my money's worth out of the car, I pretty much need it. Side benefits of the phone include banking apps, transit apps (realtime bus location info--yay!), and being able to check my email without wifi.
Oh, and music. I pretty quickly started downloading a bunch of songs that I used to listen to from my audio cassette collection. Now I can listen to music while I'm running errands on my bicycle, which is nice...but it comes with a down side. You see, it's incredibly difficult not to sing along with the music, but I can barely get a couple lines out before I run out of breath and have to pant heavily for a while. An inconvenience, certainly...but sometimes a person just HAS to belt out "One day moooooooore!" and damn the consequences.
Anyway, that was all on the 30th. I also did manage to get Brooke's costume finished, though the bonnet was slightly too small because I didn't compensate for having to put her ears inside it. (Here's the Ravelry page for the sweater for anyone interested in the details.)
Last Monday I was able to go to the local Tesla showroom (or whatever they call it) for a short test drive of a car like the one I ordered. I love how adjustable everything is, and the screen has a ton of useful information. I can tell it's going to take me a while to play around with it and figure out what all it can do.
Thankfully there's not much left to accomplish in the garden, because I don't have much time to spare for it. I have some late-season tomatoes left, plus winter squash and the second-crop chili peppers. Surprisingly, it has been so warm this month that my winter peas are already starting to produce. I don't think I've ever gotten peas earlier than February before. As a bonus, my baby lime tree looks to be the happiest it's ever been; I might actually get fruit from it next year.
I was able to invite my neighbor over for a ladies' movie night with a tray of fancy cheese and crackers and my homemade jam (a selection of fig, quince, and kumquat marmalade), accompanied by hot chocolate and Bailey's. I recently discovered Catherine Disher's Good Witch series, thanks to a Netflix suggestion, so I showed my neighbor the first DVD movie of that. (She's now hooked.)
You see, I had just finished getting most of the windows in my house replaced with more energy efficient ones, anticipating that I would be able to pay off a big chunk of the bill before I would have any car payments kick in. Slight miscalculation there. Fortunately, we have a lot of holiday bonus pay coming up over the next two months. Still, I immediately signed up to work some overtime to make up for some of the expenses, and that added to my full schedule.
The same day I ordered the car, I went shopping for a smart phone. I've been using a basic flip phone since forever (I think I got my current model 9 years ago, shortly after I moved to California). The Tesla will have a lot of features that rely on using a smart phone app, so if I want to get my money's worth out of the car, I pretty much need it. Side benefits of the phone include banking apps, transit apps (realtime bus location info--yay!), and being able to check my email without wifi.
Oh, and music. I pretty quickly started downloading a bunch of songs that I used to listen to from my audio cassette collection. Now I can listen to music while I'm running errands on my bicycle, which is nice...but it comes with a down side. You see, it's incredibly difficult not to sing along with the music, but I can barely get a couple lines out before I run out of breath and have to pant heavily for a while. An inconvenience, certainly...but sometimes a person just HAS to belt out "One day moooooooore!" and damn the consequences.
Anyway, that was all on the 30th. I also did manage to get Brooke's costume finished, though the bonnet was slightly too small because I didn't compensate for having to put her ears inside it. (Here's the Ravelry page for the sweater for anyone interested in the details.)
Last Monday I was able to go to the local Tesla showroom (or whatever they call it) for a short test drive of a car like the one I ordered. I love how adjustable everything is, and the screen has a ton of useful information. I can tell it's going to take me a while to play around with it and figure out what all it can do.
Thankfully there's not much left to accomplish in the garden, because I don't have much time to spare for it. I have some late-season tomatoes left, plus winter squash and the second-crop chili peppers. Surprisingly, it has been so warm this month that my winter peas are already starting to produce. I don't think I've ever gotten peas earlier than February before. As a bonus, my baby lime tree looks to be the happiest it's ever been; I might actually get fruit from it next year.
I was able to invite my neighbor over for a ladies' movie night with a tray of fancy cheese and crackers and my homemade jam (a selection of fig, quince, and kumquat marmalade), accompanied by hot chocolate and Bailey's. I recently discovered Catherine Disher's Good Witch series, thanks to a Netflix suggestion, so I showed my neighbor the first DVD movie of that. (She's now hooked.)
no subject
Date: 2018-11-12 02:36 am (UTC)And yeah, I used to sing while on a bike in Japan. "One Day More" especially requires full belting out no matter the lung capacity!
no subject
Date: 2018-11-15 11:36 am (UTC)One of the things I've been able to load on my phone is the Hunter × Hunter Best Song Collection, which includes all the songs from the first musical. That really brings back memories of Japan.